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Over the last couple of years reading manga has become a really enjoyable hobby.

I’ve always struggled with reading since I was little, it’s difficult to put into words but I basically struggled to take in the information of the text which proved to be an uphill task when I was a University student. Luckily I had very understanding tutors who made my education very easy and enjoyable.

Around the time I graduated from Uni I got into manga and I must say I found it life-changing. After years of searching for reading material I found it in the form of manga. Suddenly I went from struggling to read one page to reading and enjoying literally dozens of manga and light novels.

Not only am I enjoying these stories as a fan but they’re helping me in the professional field as an artist and as an author. It may not seem much but it’s a very big deal to me and I’m very thankful that publishers like Seven Seas, Yen Press and everyone else exist to license and publish the manga that we all know and love. I’m also thankful for the Amazon Kindle, because I’m able to read and store so many manga volumes in one little device. =)

To give you a rough idea what I read, I’ll list 13 random Manga/Light Novels I’m currently reading while summarising my thoughts for each of them. =)

MY READING LIST

Bloom into You(Seven Seas)

Volumes: 1

Yuu and Touko’s friendship started off simple but it develops deeper when they learn more about each other. They could become a lovely couple without drama but that quip made by Yuu’s Dad could be a hint of troubles to come. I don’t know why he would have a problem of Yuu having a girlfriend but the fact remains that if Yuu harbours those feelings it would put her in a tight spot.

2. Dragons Rioting(Yen Press)

Volumes: 4

This story is definitely unique, especially the circumstances with Rintaro. This is one of my favourite manga and it makes me sad a little that it’s never received an anime adaptation.

3. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?(YenPress)

Light Novel Volumes: 7

Manga Volume: 6

Sword Oratoria Light Novel Volumes: 2

The first Light Novel I’ve ever read. I like reading all about Bell’s journey and how he overcomes his mistakes and trials in and outside the dungeon. I especially adore his relationship with Hestia, they’re like a young married couple.

4. Kampfer(Digital Manga Publishing)

Manga Volumes: 3

I liked the anime and took the opportunity to read it on my kindle. Although I’m enjoying the manga it is difficult to ignore the quality of the pages, especially when I have to zoom in to read the dialogue.

5. Kiss and White Lily for my Dearest Girl(YenPress)

Volumes: 1

So far the contrast of love and hate between Ayaka and Yurine is adorable and I sense it’s gradually blossoming into a beautiful relationship. Ayaka buying flowers for her “rival” is a sweet touch and proves that deep down she cares about her future girlfriend. 😉

6. KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World!(YenPress)

Manga Volumes: 2

Light Novel Volumes: 1

An absolutely hilarious story and I like how it’s written in the books. It doesn’t go into detail it just delves right into the plot, and that’s what I especially like about it. If there’s one thing that does disappoint me, slightly unrelated, is how the anime crew didn’t adapt Wiz’s introduction scene. It doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment, just a thought that came to mind. =)

7. My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World(J-Novel Club)

Manga Volumes: 3

I’m happy that more Light Novels are being published in English. I’m currently up to the part in volume 3 where Yoriko prevented Aiko from digging her fangs into Yuichi’s neck. This is an easy to read book and like KonoSuba and Re:Zero it has that air of self-awareness of manga cliché that seems to be the modern and current manga cliché.

8. Oh My Goddess!(Dark Horse Comics)

Volume: 1

Reading the first book makes me appreciate the era it debuted in, I find the story and the fashion very fascinating. Belldandy is such a beautiful Goddess, if I was Keiichi I’d ask her to stay with me as well! I also appreciate the references made by KonoSuba, especially the fateful encounter between Kazama and Aqua.

9. One-Punch Man(VizMedia)

Manga Volumes: 11

One-Punch Man, or as my Auntie calls him, “One Punch Baldy Man,” haha. I got my family hooked on Non Non Biyori and now I got them all hooked on the anime and given time, the manga too. 😉

The concept of this manga is wonderfully different and I find it inspiring as an artist how Yusuke Murata and One met and turned the franchise into a massively well-earned product. =)

10. Please Tell Me! Galko-Chan(Seven Seas)

Volumes: 2

Seeing a manga with colourful pages is very refreshing on the eyes. =) The simplicity of the story is nice too. I especially like how diverse and friendly the classmates are with each other, especially Galko and Otako. =)

11. See Me After Class(Project-H)

Volumes: 2

I never dreamed that this would ever get a license and I’m delighted that it did. =D This story is very humorous and makes me chuckle every time I re-read the volumes. It’s a tad disappointing that volume 3 keeps getting back-dated but it makes me look forward to it more. =)

12. The Testament of New Sister Devil(Seven Seas)

Volumes: 5

I keep on comparing this with High School DxD, I see many similarities yet major differences.

This harem story is visually appealing but one of my favourite moments is when Basara and his group battled against the heroes that filled one whole volume. Fan-service was not needed because the story and climax of that battle was very engaging. =)

13. Witchcraft Works(Vertical)

Volumes: 6

I love expressionless girls like Ayaka, I think her kind of characters tend to be funnier when they deal with situations with a monotone face. Haha. I like her relationship with Honoka and I find it fascinating how he was initially a girl before the story came to fruition.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been very busy with all kinds of things. I’ve been out socialising, continuing my outside projects and helping out with various tasks.

I got back into swimming a couple of weeks ago. I was hesitant in both weeks as the pool was filled with adults and children and we nearly bumped into each other a few times. I do my best to read situations but sometimes you learn things through experience rather than logic, even if you practice the scenario 100 times in your head. Haha.

I’ve been out a few other times as well and watched Wrestlemania at my brother’s and hanging out at Starbucks. My bro and I were both laughing because the gentleman that served me thought my name was Ray, not Ryan. I was chuckling to myself at that silly moment whilst gazing at nothing in particular when a lady, who stood near us, looked up and smiled at me. I felt a little awkward at that moment it looked as though I’ve been staring and smiling at her all that time. Of course this wasn’t the case and I would understand if she thought if I was bonkers but I will take a smile over a frown any day!

We had a lot of visitors at my home throughout the week and I helped to look after my niece twice this week on the same days as yoga and swimming. All was well when I felt something was off when I came back from yoga. I don’t know why but I felt very dizzy and lethargic and at one point I thought I was going to be sick. Why was I suddenly feeling ill? I had no idea why. The answer came to me quickly, a combination of lack of sleep and not giving myself enough time to recharge my batteries.

It has been a challenging week for me personally. I usually take things easy but lately I’ve been busier than ever and I’m not used to socialising with others more than once a week. Deep down I’ve probably withheld my stress and doing my best to persevere. My body and mind needs to slow down and take things easier, especially with things that aren’t in my control. It didn’t help that I got back into the habit of going to bed late and waking up very early.

It’s all ok though, as soon as I recognised something was wrong I tried to listen to the current conditions of my mind and body. What would cheer me up? Once decided I had a deep bath, watched Non Non Biyori and wrote some notes on my fantasy story. The only way I get rid of my negative thinking is to not try to force it out but to accept it and override it with something that makes me happy and only then will the negatives wash away. It works every time.

I feel it’s important to remember that even when I’m having an off day I know what makes me happy. =)

I also made the sad decision to get rid of my Lady Lamp. I’ve had it since I was sixteen but throughout the years it has been pretty much decaying to the point where it couldn’t be fixed. It was a very big decision and letting go of attachments is never easy. I was upset at first when I decided to let it go but I got used to its absence very quickly. It’s reassuring for me that I’m able to let go of materialistic attachments, especially something as precious as my Lady Lamp.

All these events remind me that no matter how challenging life gets things will turn out well in the end. =D

I like to talk about my current thoughts on anime and manga but I’ll leave that for another time. =)

Many good things are happening lately and here we are now in the third week of March. It feels as though everything is happening in such a short space of time, especially art wise. This is an exciting time for my art journey. =D

Sadly I did lose a lot of steam and I’m still ill as of now, it’s one of the reasons why I decided to not accept any more requests until April. It still hurts to talk and I was unable to vlog fantasy football for the past couple of weeks. Thankfully I’m not as bad as I was, if I keep disciplined and continue to relax I should be better sooner than later. Admittedly I never like to rest, I always like to keep busy and work from morning till night. That’s not working for me so I gave myself cutting off points to chill out a bit before bed.

I drew a picture for a dear friend of mine who is also my Yogi teacher. She asked me to draw her Pre-Natal class, I said yes and gave it a go. I don’t usually draw real life people but I worked hard at it. It’s taken me a month or so to do but she loves it and that makes me happy. =)

Ever since I finished drawing my Elf Goddess Gaia I’ve been coming up with many ideas for future manga/comic/stories etc that surrounds her. I don’t have a strong foundation for a story I just visualise her beating the stuffing out of evil myriads. For that reason it will probably work better as a manga but in truth I’m still not sure.

I won’t think too hard about it. For now I’m just happy that I managed to draw a colourful picture of her but if a story comes out of it, that’ll be a marvellous bonus. =)

Hello everyone, I just thought I’d give you all a quick update on my latest news.

For the past few weeks I have been experiencing an unfortunate cold which made me lose a lot of steam and energy with my drawings so I decided to take a small break to rest. Thankfully it seems the worst of my cold has disappeared, all I’m left with is an aggravating tickle in my throat. I should be fine as long as I don’t cough or talk, haha. Fortunately I’m well enough to resume my requests and anything drawing related. =)

It’s amazing to think I’ve received so many requests since the end of last year. When I first shared my art online I never imagined that anyone would view my art let alone ask me for a picture. Almost all of my art I’ve uploaded this year have been requests. In hindsight I probably accepted too many requests at once which resulted in a huge backlog and since Christmas I’ve been playing catch-up. Even now I’m still playing catch-up but I will continue to keep doing my best until they’re all finished.

Outside my art life I’ve been up to various things, mostly watching films and the football with my family. I’m also watching two new anime from this season, KonoSuba season two and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. KonoSuba’s second season is as funny as I expected it to be but I’m enjoying Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid far more than I thought I would. They’re the perfect anime to cheer me up during my time with a cold and they couldn’t have aired at a better time, even their opening and ending songs lifts the mood. =)

It’s a new start to a new year and I have a mind-set that’s fresh and clear. I’m already feeling positive vibes from 2017 and I’m well underway with my goals for this year.

Socialising and Going Out

A lot has happened throughout my life. I always struggle with crowds but things are becoming easier overtime, especially with my new mind-set. I’ve accepted my weaknesses and limitations now but I persevere when I need to, both for myself and for everyone else. Despite my anxiety going out I do feel that I’m actually a people’s person and I often find myself putting everyone’s feelings ahead of my own.

I will try to go out more but only under the right circumstances. It’s all about dealing with each moment when it’s presented to me rather than analyse possible future events.

My Stories

For years I’ve been writing and making amendments for my children’s story and right now its under-going another editing process. I’ve completed the first book a good number of times but it was never quite ready to be published. As a result I’ve often lost motivation and lacked ideas to change. However, this is definitely the most successful editing process I’ve ever done for this story.

I’ve polished my writing style and grammar-correcting a lot and I have to thank reading different manga and light novels for that. The only materials I can read are manga and light novels but it really does go to show that no matter what genre you read, reading makes you grow as a writer.

Anime Art

I’ve changed my attitude and approach to my anime art and decided to take extra time to complete each art successfully. Last year I did get in the unfortunate habit of putting a time limit on each picture. Now I have the philosophy of illustrating at my own pace which goes hand in hand with my new mind-set for this year. You could say it’s a new beginning with a better approach and from now on I will emphasize quality over quantity.

My Current Works in Progress

-Requests (I’m undertaking around 10 requests and nearly completed 1)

-New Game! (This is a comic style landscape that features Aoba and Hifumi)

-Gaia: Mother Goddess (a more refined version of my own character, Gaia the Elf Goddess)

-Darkness (a single portrait of the masochist knight that could feature a few versions in different clothes)

-Valentine’s Day picture (to be revealed)

-Ai-Chan (going to attempt to shade Ai-Chan in the blue chrome shading style and see how I get on)

-Keijo x One Punch Man Comic (a crossover comic that is set in the One Punch Man universe but stars Nozomi and Non from Keijo)

I’m enjoying all these drawings right now and I can’t wait to see how they turn out in the end. 2017 will be a great year. =)

For the past few days I have been ploughing my head deciding what my personal highlights for this year were. In truth I haven’t really been trying that hard because I’ve been too busy enjoying my Christmas with my family whilst indulging in anime and my drawings.

Right now I’ll just select a few that come to mind. If I think of anything else, I’ll add them. =)

One: Family and Friends

They’re simply put, wonderful.

Two: YouTube Vlogging

I took a brave step and created my own YouTube channel discussing my weekly Fantasy Football team. This was very nerve-racking because I was opening myself up for criticism but I felt it was the right thing to do. Occasionally I did discuss the England team and general news but in truth I don’t really have any strong views and recently made the decision to solely focus on Fantasy Football. =)

Three: Kitacon Karnival

This year’s Kitacon was a better experience than last year’s Kitacon. Approaching new people was easier but it was just as nerve-racking as I still making small talk with cosplayers and taking their photos. I was unwell at times but luckily I didn’t feel as disorientated as I did last year.

Remarkably one of my pictures did feature in the Kitacon Karnival Booklet. It was surprising and exciting when I first found out and it’s just as exciting now, 8 months on before the New Year.

Four: Shopping Trip

It’s been quite some time since I’ve done a shopping binge for clothes but one day decided to give it a go shortly after my birthday. (Now that I think about it, it might have been in August… well, it’s still after my Birthday!) I struggle with crowds but I plunged through the troubles for the sake of buying new clothes. I most certainly made the most of the 8 hours outing but was glad to be home when the outing finished. =)

Five: Wii U at the Cinema

This is definitely one of the most unique activities I’ve ever experienced. I played the Wii U at a Cinema screening to celebrate my Brother’s birthday. It was a lot of fun and luckily there weren’t many people about because we did this in the morning! Hurray!

Six: Picture Requests

I’ve been uploading my anime art online for more than a year now and over the last few months I’ve been receiving a lot of requests to draw particular characters. This is a very nice situation to be in as it means that a lot of people are enjoying my art and it gives my drawing more purpose.

Seven: Epiphany and the Bubble of Troubles

This is definitely the most important aspect of 2016 for me. I’ve always been positive and looked on the bright side but I’ve been carrying this Bubble of Troubles that resulted in me thinking about the past and feeling sad. It was only in November that I realised why that was.

I convinced myself I was going to write an auto-bio of my life when I left school (I planned this when I was still a student). That turned to be a mistake as I kept on recalling sad memories and in turn I couldn’t let that Bubble of Trouble go… until now. I decided that I don’t want to think about my past, let alone talk about them, so, why should I? It resulted in over-thinking and letting my imaginations go wild to the point where I misconstrue reality with a mashed up fantasy.

With that I got that pin and popped that Bubble of Trouble that didn’t need to glide over my head. Since then I feel refreshed and I feel like I can be myself 100% without any burden stopping me. =D I still do have my limitations but I deal with them when I need to along with the situations which will arise every time, every day and every second. =)

Roll On 2017

I have many plans for 2017 (somewhat because they didn’t come to fruition this year. Whoops!) I want to release my book on kindle, I want to work more on my fantasy story, I want to try and socialise when the circumstances are right and draw more anime girls.

Something tells me that 2017 will be a very good year for me. I won’t speculate what that might be I’m just looking forward to it. =)

Hello everyone, I hope you’re all enjoying this festive season. I know I am.

Recently I’ve been putting a lot of my work in progress aside to focus on my very own “Christmas Project.” I’m going to upload 12 pictures per day and use them as a “countdown” to Christmas starting on 13th December. I’ve been planning this for some time and I’m excited that my idea is finally coming to fruition. =D

I planned it so that I would work on two landscape pictures alongside the Christmas Project but I unexpectedly received a lot of requests between November and now. I’m very flattered and happy as I never foresaw that people would enjoy my work let alone ask me for requests. I’m working hard to get the pictures right and currently they’re all in rough stages and ready to be inked and coloured. I’m much busier than anticipated in December but it’s a nice headache to have. =)

Unfortunately I am behind schedule with this project so I’ve been making up for lost time the best I can and as a result I had to put my requests on hold. Christmas, family and baby-sitting duties comes first, especially at this time of year.

This is quite possibly the busiest holiday I’ve ever had and I have often received a lot of blank headaches and being unwell. It’s nothing to be concerned about because I recognise my own limitations and only going beyond the limits when I need to but I also stop and rest when I need to.

The official countdown will start tomorrow. I hope you enjoy viewing these pictures as much as I enjoyed drawing them. =)

This morning was a very unique experience. To celebrate my Brother’s 30th birthday he has hired a Cinema venue for a couple of hours to play Wii U games on one of the gigantic screens. =D Apparently this was the first ever time that someone has hired a Cinema screening to play Wii U games on.

The anticipation did get to me and that resulted in me losing some sleep last night wondering what was going to happen and over-analysing. Because I was nervous I started to think irrationally but eventually I managed to tell myself “pull yourself together.” Nothing has happened yet so it’s pointless to imagine scenes and picture the worst case scenario. Just go in there with a positive mind, and that’s what happened.

I went there with a small group of friends and family and we started to play the Wii U. I noticed the huge difference playing games on a small TV than playing games on a huge screen. Cinema screenings are usually filled with people but on this occasion there were only the 7 of us so I’m willing to go as far as say that this was the best filming experience ever… except, we were playing games rather than watching a film. Haha.

I tried to be a little more chatty this time around but sometimes I stayed quiet, unsure what to say so I just played the games. We played Nintendo Land and Mario Kart. I was very rusty. I wasn’t so good to begin with but I was even worse today. Not that I mind though, it was good fun and a brilliant experience.

I keep mentioning about my epiphany from months ago but it’s proving to be diffidence in my current positive way of thinking. Plus, I didn’t get trapped in the toilet this time so that’s a big bonus!

We played for two hours and it was a very good change of pace, but even so I did somewhat reached my limit because I started to get some blankess in my head. The blankness in my head usually indicates where I’ve been out for too long but it had nothing to do with the event itself. My enjoyment for the event was slightly greater so I tried to ignore the headache and just try to make the most of it.

After having fun whilst being somewhat out of my comfort zone I can relax with a nice hot chocolate. =)

Speaking of comfort zones, something completely off topic, I babysat my young niece the other day which was a bit spur of the moment. Usually I do struggle with “last minute” situations as I like routine but luckily this time around I managed to gather my thoughts and babysat her with Mum until my Brother came home.^^/

Positive thinking really does help a bundle and it’s a bonus when you go out for the sake of having fun. =)

Ever since I made my important life decision one month ago I feel a positive change in me, or more accurately, I got rid of a heavy dumbbell that’s been weighing me down all this time.

I haven’t changed who I am I just got rid of that unwelcome weight of issues that stems from my past. Because thinking about my past was a habit I became accustomed to what I thought was the norm. I recalled sad memories, grinning and bearing them because I felt that I had to and not once did I take one step back and told myself to let it go… until now.

Now I feel like I can shine brighter and show everyone who I really am, the positive side of myself without getting too anxious. I feel like I have more time for many things and nowadays I don’t cram things in. If I was going out in the evening or tomorrow I would try and squeeze in my drawings and watch anime with the thought that I had to “make the most of it.” Now I feel like doing everything more than ever and if I don’t get the time to finish tasks in one day I see those future projects as something to look forward to.

My new frame of mind has also helped me with my literacy. In the past two months I read 20 to 30 manga and since I started editing my stories I noticed an instance improvement with my grammar and storytelling and how I convey them. No doubt there is room for improvement as I’m always learning something new but I am very excited about my development as an author. =)

Despite my epiphany I’m still not fond of socialising. Even on my best day and after cleansing my negativity I still struggle and get overwhelming headaches when I’m out socialising.

I wrote my first ever blog three years ago, around this time. Instead of talking about my favourite moments of the year I’m going to commemorate this anniversary by listing my Top Ten Favourite Anime of all time. =D

From 10 to 1 here is my all-time top ten. =)

10. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma (2015)

9. Locodol (2014)

8. No Game No Life (2014)

7. One Punch Man (2015)

6. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (2015)

5. Monster Musume (2015)

4. High School DxD (2012)

3. KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! (2016)

2. New Game! (2016)

Non Non Biyori (2013)

That’s my list done. What’s your favourite anime? Feel free to comment and we can have a good chat. =D